Monroeville Garden Club

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Monday, October 30, 2017

The Monroeville Garden Club met on Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. at City Hall in Monroeville. Judi Burns and Margaret Groves were the hostesses for the meeting.

Guest speaker was Ms. Nadine Johnson, a published author and master herbalist. Not only has she written numerous herbal garden columns for newspapers across Alabama, she has personally grown and harvested her own herb and plant gardens. A pioneer in herbal research, Ms. Johnson recounted personal experiences in which herbs did and still do provide significant improvement in her overall health, when modern medicines did not. She is also known for her stories of human-interest, and recalled a few from her latest book titled “LifeRevisited (and recipes).” She encourages others to write down their stories as well, not for publication, but because she feels our stories are our legacy.

Following our program, members were served with Halloween-themed snacks including Reese’s cup brooms, a pumpkin cheeseball, brownies, stuffed eggs, open-faced pumpkin sandwiches, and witches’ brew punch.

Monday, April 17, 2017

The Monroeville Garden Club met on April 13, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. at the home of Sharon Brewton in Monroeville, Al. Jean Singleton served as co-hostess for the meeting.

Mr. Jere Twigg, a Baldwin County Master Gardener, presented a program on African Violets. He said that African Violets make great houseplants because of their beauty and easy care. He gave a handout and then explained the important points of raising them. Mr. Twigg has been growing African Violets for over 40 years and now has a collection of several hundred.

Following the program, members were served Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Tomato Sandwiches, Cheese Straws, a fruit tray, miniature cupcakes, Secrets, nuts, punch and coffee.

Friday, February 10, 2017

The Monroeville Garden Club met on February 9, 2017, at 1:00 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church. Dotsy Compton was the hostess for the meeting and co-hostesses were Jeanne Sewell and Pam Hindman.

Guest speaker was Ms. Karen Weber, a Master Gardener from Montgomery, who supervises the care of the Shakespeare Garden in the Blount Cultural Park in Montgomery. Ms. Weber talked about the history of the garden which was designed by Edwina von Cal and Co. of New York. The garden features plants and flowers that are mentioned in the works of Shakespeare. She brought samples of some of the plants that grow in the garden and told us how she schedules her planting.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

The Monroeville Garden Club met on Thursday, January 12, 2016, at 1:00 p.m. at the Monroeville Presbyterian Church. Hostesses for the meeting were Patsy Wadlington and Carolyn Hutcherson.

Details regarding the April Luncheon Fundraiser were discussed. The luncheon will be on Thursday, April 6, at the Vanity Fair Golf and Tennis Club. Members will decorate the tables in a general Spring theme. The speaker for the luncheon will be Katie Lamar Jackson. Ms. Jackson is a freelance writer, editor and photographer. She is the author or co-author of three national gardening books and writes the monthly gardening column for Alabama Living Magazine. Tickets for the luncheon will be $20.00

For the benefit of new members, there was a review of other projects sponsored by the garden club: The Katherine Lee Rose Garden, shrub roses in the front and back of the new courthouse, containers around the square and in front of city hall, and hanging baskets. Recently the garden club also agreed to help with the landscaping around the library. It had been planned to remove the Asiatic Jasmine and replace with gardenia shrubs but it was instead decided to leave the jasmine and try to do a better job of grooming it each Spring with the club planting the box under the library sign and the containers on the porch. A sign up sheet was passed around for members to choose a project that they would like to help with.

Monday, January 9, 2017

The Monroeville Garden Club had a Christmas Breakfast at the home of Laura Bodiford on December 8, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. Dana Shinholster was hostess and Brenda Gardner was the co-hostess. Members were served Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole, Grits, Sausage, Fresh Fruit, Banana Nut Streusel Mini Muffins, Orange Juice and Coffee.

After breakfast, members exchanged gifts by playing the "Right, Left Game". The game started with each member holding a gift and as a Christmas story was read, when "right" or "left" was mentioned the gift was passed accordingly. At the conclusion of the story, members kept the gift they were holding.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

The Monroeville Garden Club met on Thursday, November 10, 2016, at 1:00 p.m. at the home of Pam Hindman. Nancy Ziebach served as co-hostess.

Harry and Beverly Stephens , members of the Mobile Orchid Society, presented a program on orchids. Mrs Stephens related that her husband gave her an orchid as a Valentine's gift one year which led to an obsession and they now have over 300 orchids.

Orchids grow on every continent except Antarctica and there are about 30,000 species. The basic thing to remember in caring for orchids is to reproduce the growing conditions of their natural habitat. Orchids like to be "pot bound" and the best potting media is a bark mix.

The Stephens recommended The American Orchid Society website (aos.org) as a place to get good information on growing orchids. Also, the Mobile Area Orchid Society has a website: mobileareaorchidsociety.org

Mrs. Stephens presented all the club members with cuttings from two different orchids and also gave two orchids as door prizes.

Following the program, members were served Pumpkin Cake, a fruit tray, nuts, apple slices with cream cheese and caramel dip, a cheese ring with crackers and Mocha Punch.